Collective Trauma

Catalog description

This is an elective course delving into the multifaceted roles and responses to collective trauma across diverse contexts, with a focus on facilitating effective assistance to survivors. The course is meticulously structured to provide a comprehensive understanding of collective trauma following an initial exploration of the universality of trauma, prevalent definitions, and theories, as well as the causes, consequences, risk factors, and protective elements associated with trauma resilience. An overarching goal of the course is to furnish students with an in-depth overview and best practices for aiding those profoundly affected by collective trauma, exemplified by occurrences such as natural disasters, war, terrorist attacks, genocide, slavery, and catastrophic accidents. The aftermath of collective trauma gives rise to survivors encountering parallel challenges encompassing psychosocial, emotional, and medical dimensions. In addressing these complexities, the course adopts an anti-oppressive, trauma-informed psychosocial lens, inherently promoting human development.